in regard
to that, if you like. Let us look at it in another light, in the light
of the best interests of the Hall and of yourself. There is a question
of general fitness which implies no criticism upon yourself, upon your
scholarship or character. We are a homogeneous community here, we
understand each other and cherish the ideals which this college was
built to inculcate. You are a product of an entirely different
tradition. You were educated, and have previously taught, in a large
university, and this makes it difficult, perhaps impossible, for you to
appreciate the needs and the point of view of the small college. The
ideal of the professor in a university is self-improvement and personal
achievement; but in the small college, the teacher is expected to give,
above everything else, personal service and devotion to the interests
of his students. He should stand to a large extent _sancti parentis
loco_. I do not say that you have consciously failed to improve this
opportunity of service; I would say rather that, because of your
previous academic experiences, you have failed to see it. The
conviction has therefore been forced upon us, in spite of our personal
regard for you and our appreciation of your attainments, that you would
be happier and more useful in a larger institution, where the point of
contact begins and ends in the class-room. In short, I believe you
will agree with us that the experiment has not been altogether a
success from this point of view. I accept your explanation of the
specific charge gladly, and congratulate you upon correcting an
impression that did you injustice."

It was Leigh's first meeting in his professional life with that malign
experience, injustice in the garb of plausibility, from which there is
no appeal. He could not bring himself to acquiesce in silence, though
he knew that explanation and protest were vain.

"Dr. Renshaw," he rejoined, in a voice that showed his deep chagrin and
sense of wrong, "the proved falsity of the first charge throws
suspicion on the second, which is, after all, mainly a conjecture as to
my state of mind in regard to St. George's Hall. I must plead guilty
to the sin of personal ambition; but how can you expect a man to become
entirely identified with the spirit of a place in a few months? It is
evident to me that there are certain men who wish me gone, for reasons
best known to themselves, and that they have trumped up these absurd
charge